Carving

Folklore

Dr J.P. Williams Freeman was told by a "native" in 1915 that the carvings(?) represented a man's entrails and the holes were made so the stone could be moved with ropes "but the horses fell down dead".
During an excavation in 1924 by H. St. George Grey, a shepherd said that the stone was called the "Devil's Waistcoat"
In 1883 the Rev. Canon J.E. Jackson F.S.A said "It is traditionally called the stone of one Kinward, some ancient magnate who held his Hundred court here in the open air.....".

Information from the Wilts Arch Mag Vol 43 1925-27.
With thanks to Martyn Henderson of the Wilts and Swindon Record Office.